Harbaugh’s “headache” over replacement officials subsides

It appears 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh either got some aspirin, or a phone call from New York.

Two days after saying some “crazy, wild calls” gave him a “headache,” Harbaugh was in a more conciliatory mood Monday.

“What seems like a big deal Saturday night, here Monday is not a big deal,” Harbaugh said, via Cam Inman of the Bay Area News Group. “We’re concentrating on Monday and what we can get out of this day. Making this practice and these meetings the best possible that we can have, and have had, in our training camp, with so much to do.”

Now, it would be downright diabolical to suggest that Harbaugh got a scolding from his superiors, especially since a league spokesman told Inman “We decline comment” when asked if Harbaugh would be fined.

But it’s clear the league’s leaning on coaches to keep the criticism down.

Asked if he had any follow-up to Saturday’s officials, Harbaugh said “No, like I said the other night — per instruction.”

Players are worried about repercussions as well. One told Inman anonymously that he was called for a penalty earlier this preseason, and when he told the official he wasn’t to blame, the official said: “Maybe you weren’t.”

At this point, simple human compassion almost makes you want to stop banging on the replacement refs. Almost. But they’re screwing something up every single game.

Some of the issues with spots and timing and rules interpretations are one thing, but the player safety issues are real, especially when helmet-to-helmet calls aren’t made (like in Pittsburgh Sunday), or plays aren’t blown dead when a ball-carrier loses his helmet (such as in Friday’s Miami-Carolina game).

The real officials aren’t going to get them all right either, but they’re going to hit for a higher average than the current crop the league has scraped from the bottom of the officiating barrel.

its not just about money. if it were, it’d be a non-issue. the “real” refs refuse to give up their “other” jobs and become full time NFL employees and/or be held accountable when they are the ones making the mistakes.

the replacements are at nowhere near the level of the guys their replacing, but i fail to see the “lack of player safety” spin that keeps getting put on them. they are just botching calls repetitively.

suhdidntstompanyone says:Aug 21, 2012 9:40 AM

What a classy guy. They should fine him every time he says “per instruction” too.
He’s implicitly criticizing the refs every time he uses that phrase.
Can’t wait for week 2 to knock him down a couple pegs.

panamon says:Aug 21, 2012 9:59 AM

It’s also clear this site is leaning FAR to the other side. Try not being biased in every single article please.

If Harbaugh’s your coach, you love him. But, the moment he’s not you realize what a big Jerk he is. He will be back in the collegiate ranks by 2015.

discosucs2005 says:Aug 21, 2012 10:20 AM

@Suhdidntstompanyone

If it makes you feel any better, I’m going to watch the replay of the 49ers beating your Lions late in the game, then watch your coach flip out because he didn’t get his hand shake the right way.

bsizemore68 says:Aug 21, 2012 10:28 AM

The NFL is all about making money, nothing wrong about that, however it seems like they are hurting the brand with this deal with the officials, if they want full time ref’s they will need to stop hiring lawyers and bankers and the like, try hiring younger men and woman with great pay and benefits, full time could be $150K, then most of the issues would slowly go away. However with scabs you have nothing but a cancer on the league. The question is what is wrong for the guys to want a better contract? The league has no problem trying to keep the cost down. Why does the league keep raising prices? How about giving the fans a break, the answer is the rich owners want every penny that they can squeeze from the customer Bill

So glad you identified your self as a lions fan – now I can point out that you got beat at your house last year by Harbaugh, still haven’t got your RB back from that game, had your head coach whine about a handshake that was too hard, had your coach complain about the way the packers do training camp, had many players arrested and suspended since that game, and finally, lost to a team that Harbaugh beat before you could get your “rematch.” Why not wait until your team is good enough to beat the 49ers before trying to tear down their head coach?

Nevis says:Aug 21, 2012 10:58 AM

Riots will start quickly if these clowns are calling meaningful games. You can’t hinge thousands of hours in the offices, film room, gym and ultimately the field on people who aren’t qualified to call NFL games.

melikefootball says:Aug 21, 2012 11:36 AM

Hairbaughs will always be Hairbaughs, they continue to wine wine wine and when they get hands slaped , decide to push the rules as far as possible believing people are to stupid to see it.

briank1ne says:Aug 21, 2012 11:40 AM

people are so mad at harbaugh for no reason… these lions fans are comical. Im gonna enjoy watching you come to candlestick and getting spanked again!!! Welcome to Alcatraz inmates! LOL

The new Refs may be making bad calls a little bit more than the regular officials, however they are doing a damn better job of not being biased about it. I love seeing these “super star” players getting called out on blatant fouls. (something the regular officials like to ignore)

panamon says:
Aug 21, 2012 9:59 AM
It’s also clear this site is leaning FAR to the other side. Try not being biased in every single article please

Completely agree.

This site is starting to become more a blog with all the opinions that are injected in a bunch of articles.

This is a news site….right?

The biased opinions have been becoming more and more prevalent in the last few months and have made me start going elsewhere for my news.
Not to mention the filtering/selectivity of what posts they decide to let through.